Matthew H. Clark

Matthew Harvey Clark (July 15, 1937 – January 22, 2023) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Rochester from 1979 to 2012. His 33-year tenure was the second-longest in the diocese's history.

Early life and education Matthew Clark was born on July 15, 1937, in Waterford, New York, to Matthew and Grace (née Bills) Clark. He attended Catholic Central High School in Troy, New York, and the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, before entering Mater Christi Seminary in Albany, New York. He obtained a Licentiate of Sacred Theology from the Gregorian University in 1963. On his return to New York, Clark taught at the Vincentian Institute while serving at Our Lady of Mercy Parish, both in Albany. In December 1986, Cardinal Josef Ratzinger ordered Clark to withdraw his imprimatur, or church approval, from a sex education manual written by a priest in his parish. Ratzinger said the manual was "defective" on church teachings.

In 2003, Clark was criticized over his $11 million renovation of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Rochester. Clark received some credit for clamping down on abusive priests. In 2004, the diocese was deemed to be in "full compliance" with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) charter for the protection of children and young people. Clark presided over the unpopular closing of many of Rochester's parochial schools and parishes, pledging to complete the "re-sizing" of the diocese prior to his retirement in 2012.

Retirement On September 21, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI accepted Clark's letter of resignation as bishop of Rochester. The pope named Bishop Robert Cunningham as apostolic administrator until the installation of the new bishop, Salvatore Matano. In September 2019, Clark revealed that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

In February 2020, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paul R. Warren ruled that Clark had to testify as part of bankruptcy proceedings for the Diocese of Rochester. Clark's lawyer had argued that his client was incapable of doing so due to Alzheimer's. In July 2020, Clark was questioned for three hours in a deposition hearing. He admitted sending Reverend Eugene Emo, a priest later convicted of sexual abuse of a minor, to a treatment facility, then reassigning him to another parish.

Clark died on January 22, 2023, in the motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Pittsford, New York, at age 85.